Report: Kushner Demanded Apology to Trump to Kill Tabloid Story

Sources say Jared Kushner demanded a personal apology to President Trump in order to kill a "National Enquirer" story about Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File)

(Newser)
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More details about President Trump's alleged attempt to blackmail the hosts of Morning Joe are leaking out, including the reported involvement of his son-in-law. New York reports Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski found out in March the National Enquirer was planning to run a story about their affair, which had not yet been made public. Scarborough texted Jared Kushner about the story in April, and Kushner told him he needed to personally apologize to Trump for negative coverage in order to kill the story, according to sources close to the situation. Scarborough declined, and the Enquirer ran a story titled "Morning Joe Sleazy Cheating Scandal" in June. The Enquirer denies any knowledge of conversations between the White House and the Morning Joe hosts.

In a tweet, Trump claimed Scarborough tried to get him to kill the story; Scarborough denies that. Scarborough also claims to have text and phone records from Trump aides proving his version of events, NBC News reports. Brzezinski also claims the Enquirer had been calling her teen daughters about the story. Trump is friends with the head of the tabloid—a relationship detailed in the New Yorker—and last August tweeted that he would "tell the real story of @JoeNBC and his very insecure long-time girlfriend, @morningmika. Two clowns!” Earlier this week, Trump falsely claimed Brzezinski had shown up at Mar-a-Lago "bleeding badly from a face-lift." Scarborough tells Vanity Fair that at the time an impressed Trump had relentlessly pestered Brzezinski for the name of her plastic surgeon. (Read more Donald Trump stories.)